There are, of course, many Spencer families, comprising all individuals with the surname Spencer. However, this article will discuss the Spencer family descended in the male line from a certain Henry Spencer (died c. 1478), male-line ancestor of the Dukes of Marlborough, Earls of Sunderland, and Earls Spencer.

Members of the family

• Diana, Princess of Wales (1961 - 1997) (formerly Lady Diana Spencer)
• Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire

Non-Spencer descendants of the family

The following individuals are not Spencers, but are also descended from the same Henry Spencer via one or more lines of descent. Note that Winston Churchill is a special case, as he was a male-line descendant of Henry Spencer but is not counted as a member of the same family because his ancestors had changed their surname several generations earlier.

• Louis Auchincloss (born 1917) - (novelist)
• Prescott Sheldon Bush (United States Senator)
  • George H. W. Bush (born 1924) (US President)
    • George W. Bush (born 1946) (US President)
• John Calvin Coolidge Jr (1872 - 1933) (US President)
• Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) (British Prime Minister)
• Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) - author of The Origin of Species
• Sir Alec Douglas-Home -(Prime Minister)
• John Dryden - (1631 - 1700) - (poet)
• Antonia Fraser (born 1932) - author
• Robert Goddard (1882 - 1945) - (rocket scientist)
• Dubose Heyward (1885 - 1940) - author of Porgy and Bess
• Oliver Wendell Holmes (1841 - 1935) - US Supreme Court justice from 1902-1932.
• Lady Caroline Lamb (1785 - 1828) - novelist, mistress of Lord Byron
• Gavin Maxwell (1914 - 1969) - naturalist, author of The Ring of Bright Water
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) (US President) - descendant of the Spencer family via both parents
• Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745) - author of Gulliver's Travels
• Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (born 1926) - queen
• Charles, Prince of Wales (born 1948)
• Prince William of Wales (born 1982) - (second in line to British throne)
• George Washington (1731/2 - 1799) U.S. President
• Steve Young (born 1961) - American Football quarterback

It has been claimed that several well known authors such as Jane Austen and George Orwell are descendants of the same family, but evidence for this is limited.

External links

• Family tree and information (http://www.hierarchypedia.com/~hierarch/wiki/index.php/Spencer_family)
• http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~djmurphy/conn/washington.htm
• http://www.ancestry.co.uk/landing/uk/ukustree.htm